


Melt The Ice In My Heart

by havik2006v10



Category: Vikings - Fandom
Genre: Drama, F/M, Love, OC, Ragnar Lothbrok - Freeform, Rollo Lothbrok - Freeform, Vikings, norse gods
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:28:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 17
Words: 16,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25858177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/havik2006v10/pseuds/havik2006v10
Summary: Chaotic, Colhearted, Evil. Raven black hair, ice blue eyes and a devilish stare that could freeze everything she had in sight. Njorun Noraide, Kattegat's archer, was feared by many, but not by the two known brothers. She was raised in the snow, her childhood had never been filled with warmth and love. Her father abused her, angry he didn't had a son instead.One day two young men walked in, cut the father to pieces and brought her to a safe heaven, Kattegat. She quickly picked up the talent of archery to defend herself and was finally free from her abusive father. She grew close to the two brothers, but sadly while hunting she ended up in a snowstorm.Stories spread she had died, people forgot about her, asking her name nobody could remember it... except the two brothers. Ragnar and Rollo Lothbrok were determined to find their old childhood friend, seeking the area for years, until they started raiding the western for the third time, both recognizing the bright blue eyes they remembered as no other, imprisoned by the English.Rollo Lothbrok/ Ragnar Lothbrok x OCVikings
Relationships: OC x Rollo Lothbrok / Ragnar Lothbrok
Kudos: 9





	1. The Snow In My Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> ~~~ 
> 
> Hope you guys love and enjoy it ❤️ 
> 
> This begins in season 1 episode 7 when Rollo and (Earl) Ragnar attack the western for the third time. 
> 
> Warning: there will be probably a lot of strong themes and sexual content in this fan fiction. 
> 
> ~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This begins in season 1 episode 7 when Rollo and (Earl) Ragnar attack the western for the third time. 
> 
> Warning: there will be probably a lot of strong themes and sexual content in this fan fiction. 
> 
> ~~~

(POV Njorun Noraide)

My hands were bounded together so I could do no damage as I was stripped from my clothing, only, not to be raped, well, probably not yet. They found it funny to cut me open first, cut for cut. The cold iron hit my smooth skin and cut it open like it was a harmless baby. With my jaw clenched I grunted in pain but didn't want to surrender to these men. I didn't know what they wanted from me or how I ended up here, but one thing I knew for sure, this was going to be my death, whether I liked it or not so why let all my precious information spill to them. 

A tear released itself from the corner of my eye as another cut was made, feeling the warmth of the blood running down my collarbone. The sun was lowering and darkness started to surround us and after what felt like the thousandth cut, they suddenly stopped torturing me when a higher ranked man approached me. He had laid his weapons down onto a wooden table and grabbed the pole behind me before kneeling beside me, using the pole to keep himself steady as he did so. He stroked a piece of hair out of my face and I turned my head around, making him retreat his hand and he backed off. 

"You know what we want." 

"No." 

"We have been doing this for a while now, better be truthful. Who are you and how did you get here?" 

"All I remember is that I ended up in a snowstorm years ago. So just leave me alone." He rolled his eyes before standing up, clearly not willing to except my truth. 

"Get through her, break her if you have to." 

He turned back around towards me so we locked gazes and he shook his head before walking away, yelling one last time to his men and me. 

"I'm sorry that it has to go this way. My men, I just removed the rules, do what you want to get to the answer!" My eyes narrowed and I smiled to myself, the fuck did I get myself into. With all my strength I tried to break the chains, but I knew I had no change, I was bleeding everywhere and had a little to no energy to save myself. I rumbled with the chains, making an unbearable sound. Secretly hoping a wanderer would find me or anyone else, but my hope was quickly gone as the first young man with brown hair walked up to me, bending over me as he slowly lowered his trousers and meanwhile smiled at me. 

I closed my eyes preparing for whatever I had to deal with next. Only before anyone had touched my body or anything else happened, my eyes shot open when I felt hot blood dripping onto my face and a axe was placed in the neck of the man that was planning to rape me, after my rescuer killed all the men that tried to run away as well. Slowly, my eyes followed my saviors movements and when he kneeled down, bright light lit up his face and it was visible to me. The green warm, but strong eyes, the dark long hair. He grew up handsome and I couldn't hide my excitement towards the man who had once again saved me and who I knew from when I was younger.

"Rollo!" 

"I'll get you out of here, sæta." 

"You called me cutie? Why the... I'm no-...!" 

"You are. Now, let's not distract me from finding the key for those chains or do you love being naked and tied up while being cut open?" I looked down and totally forgot about having no clothing on me which made me try to cover myself up by pushing my legs against my chest, screaming out as the pain from the cuts began to hit me when I moved. 

"Got it." He confirmed holding up a key and secretly concern filled his eyes. Rollo stepped towards me before the sounds of the heavy chains falling onto the ground was echoing through the tent. He had slid his fur of off his shoulders and wrapped it around the naked me to cover me up, after, he tried to help me raise to my feet, but I failed to do so even with help which made Rollo carry me outside of the tent and gently held me close as he brought me to the other group Norsemen. When he was sure I was safe he laid me down and started to tend to my wounds while he asked a man named Arne to get clothing for me that I would fit the most. 

"Thank you." 

"It's good you survived, Ragnar and I have been trying to find you for ye-..." 

"NJORUN!!!!" 

Shocked I looked up to see the other brother running towards me, he too was grown up more handsome than before. 

"Ragnar, careful." Rollo tried to shout at him, but he was too happy to even listen. I was pulled into a tight hug with the fur almost falling of off me so with all my strength I patted him on the back and secretly pulled the fur back, covering me again while hissing through my teeth and sucking up the pain. 

"By Odin, you grew up into a fine woman!" He grabbed a piece of my hair while he again smiled at me. "With still the dark hair and cold blue eyes." 

"Thank you?" I bursted into laughter while a sharp pain came back, making Rollo push Ragnar back a bit. 

"Let me patch her up, then the three of us talk?"  
Ragnar nodded in annoyance and left to speak with the other men waiting for him as Rollo shoved up the fur by my legs to stop the bleeding on my legs while sitting on one knee to be at the same height. 

"I already got a hug from Ragnar."

"So...?" He raised his eyebrow before a smirk appeared onto his face. 

"Give me one too." I saw him hesitate before he slowly sneaked his arms around me, pulling me gently closer to him. 

"I'm glad you're back, Njorun." 

"Me too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~~ 
> 
> Hope you guys loved and enjoyed it ❤️   
> Maybe I will do outfits the next episodes.


	2. Impatient Recovery

"I already got a hug from Ragnar."

"So...?" He raised his eyebrow before a smirk appeared onto his face. 

"Give me one too." I saw him hesitate before he slowly sneaked his arms around me, pulling me gently closer to him. 

"I'm glad you're back, Njorun." 

"Me too."

~~~

Letting go of each other, I nibbled onto my lower lip as Rollo's lips curled into a smile. The way Rollo pushed his chest out and lifted his head was always a kind of attractive. Confidence and cockiness were both melted into him and were a part of him, making him different from his brother, Ragnar. Ragnar was more playful and childish, but don't mistake him for being dumb, everybody knew he was a very smart man. Both brothers were equally raised and were both equally important to me, though, both brothers were totally different from each other and that was what made them so unique in their own way.

"Who's this?" Rollo suddenly rose to his feet to watch the unknown man in front of us. 

"This-.. this is the king's brother. What do you say? Shall we go visit the king?" I tried to get up, but failed stumbling onto Rollo who caught me just in time before I could fall to the ground. 

"Don't stand so soon, I'm not done yet!" 

"Sorry." 

I chuckled before he helped me sit down again. On that moment, also Arne was back and had handed over the clothing he tried to pick together for me. Thanking him, he quickly picked up the pace to get away from me and as fast as he became visible to us, as fast was he gone as well. I don't really remember why he would be scared of me, maybe he had some hatred towards me, but I really couldn't understand why. With a questioning glare I looked back up at Rollo and Ragnar and they both bursted into laughter, shaking their heads to me as well. 

"What?!" 

"He never liked you."

In annoyance I rolled my eyes before Ragnar shielded me with another blanket so I could dress myself with the clothing Arne had hurriedly gave me. The shirt and trousers made of thin fabric suited me pretty well, except for the fur coat that was way too big for my shoulders. I was still bleeding on my chest and arms, but happily Rollo had managed to stop the bleeding everywhere else. As I was finally done with dressing up and calming the wounds, Ragnar began talking about his plan for the king of England.

~~~

They had left me behind in our camp, I was way to weak to even sit straight let alone fight with them, so for me it was a relieve to see the men arrive in this place again. I noticed I wasn't used to being this much harmed, even though I had a lot of scars, and was too impatient for my recovery, making it even harder for my wounds to heal. I was laying down onto a fallen tree trunk while watching Ragnar silently and calmly stare to the ground and Rollo playing a game with the rest of the men, laughing from the top of their lungs as Rollo won again and suddenly Floki had something to notice and tell. 

"Well done, Rolf."

"What's wrong with you Floki?" 

"Ohh. There's nothing wrong with me. I did not renounce the gods in front of everyone." 

"It was a joke." Rollo tried to explain and honestly I didn't know what they both were arguing about. "I didn't believe it. I didn't even know what the old fool was saying." 

"It doesn't matter. Surely, you've made them very angry." 

"Don't be stupid." Rollo let his arms hang while he stood up, angrily making eye contact with Floki who was cutting a piece of wood. 

"No, you are the stupid one to risk the wrath of the gods. How will you ever get Odin to forgive you now?" With rage Rollo walked Floki's way but Arne interrupted the whole situations. 

"THEY'RE HERE!! COME AND SEE!!" 

Clamoring was heard from the men and I really wanted to hear the whole story, only, I was also curious about why the men from our side were happy that the enemy was here. Slowly standing up with the help from Ragnar, I was brought to the archway from our setup camp. Patting Rollo on the shoulder we watched a big wooden carriage-like thing being abandoned before our eyes and four of our chosen scouts were send to examine it. Out of a sudden I felt like it wasn't right. I didn't know what kind of deal Ragnar had made, but I didn't like it. 

With speed they ran up the green hill to check the wooden boxes that stood on it and immediately opened them, grunting and throwing the boxes all over the place. Empty. That was what they were. We were lied to behind our backs. The king clearly didn't care about his brother and wanted him dead or else he didn't do this stupid trick. Within second after the four men declared they were empty a whole army walked onto the green hill. A big crowd of men on horses, their highest rank with their flag, and some were walking. They were all heavily armed. 

Without hesitation, Rollo started hitting his shield as a sign we were ready to attack and Ragnar silently awaited till they were close enough. Why? I couldn't think of a clear reason, but I trusted them both. "Floki, get Njorun inside!" Soon I felt a hand on my back and was supported by Floki who escorted me to the most far tent he could find, hiding me in there. 

"Floki?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Before you go, please get a bow for me." With big eyes I sadly stared at Floki who felt bad for me and nodded, leaving the tent after.


	3. An Arrow In The Heart

Without hesitation, Rollo started hitting his shield as a sign we were ready to attack and Ragnar silently awaited till they were close enough. Why? I couldn't think of a clear reason, but I trusted them both. "Floki, get Njorun inside!" Soon I felt a hand on my back and was supported by Floki who escorted me to the most far tent he could find, hiding me in there. 

"Floki?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Before you go, please get a bow for me." With big eyes I sadly stared at Floki who felt bad for me and nodded, leaving the tent after.

~~~

Soon Floki had returned and with amusement gave me a bow and some arrows to shoot with. It wasn't my own bow, but I was sure I could be useful for the group from a distance. I started drawing my bow, but couldn't find a good angle and my arm started to get tired. The wounds on them had hit my muscles and my strength wasn't as good as before, making me more shaking. I didn't want to risk anybody's life because of my shaking arm and waited for the perfect angle to draw my bow in that moment so I didn't kill anyone from my side because of a mistake. Spotting the enemy being impaled by our fence, I finally had a clear shot on the higher ranked defense.

I released the arrow as it was fully pulled back and watched the man being hit in the head, falling back onto the green grass and his horse had fled from us. Switching my gaze to the whole army, everyone was panicking and had lost control over their horses. Smiling, grunting after in pain, I watched as our fence was pulled down again and our group were ready to attack, me trying to aim with my bow again. Killing someone who stood behind Arne, made him look up with a questioning face expression, but fast I got a thanking nod before he changed his gaze. 

It went minutes like this, me backing up some men while they killed the rest. Blood had been spilled over the battlefield and dead men were visible everywhere. Relief washed over me as we had prisoned a few more men and the rest had died in battle, well, that was until some men started to grunt and crawl, but that didn't last for long as Rollo suddenly lost his control and started chopping the survivors to death. Screaming he ran over the wet dirt and slipped over it, falling onto a pile of dead body's, groaning while speaking up to Floki. 

"HOW MANY CHRISTIANS DID I KILL, FLOKI? HOW MANY? DO YOU THINK ODIN IS STILL ANGRY WITH ME NOW?!!"

~~~

The gold was blinding my eyes as I stared right into it. The golden glow hit my skin as I dug with my hands into the chest full of small gold pieces. Next to me I could see Ragnar slowly wave at the king before he stared into the bright river again. Laughs were heard from the other men and with happiness and pride we watched each other glow from what we had conquered. After a long time, we arrived at Kattegat with amusement and my eyes grew wide. It had changed so much in the time period I was lost, declared as dead by everybody around me. Man, it felt good to be back in my old, trusted home. 

~~~

"Where's Ragnar?" 

"Follow me." A man called Athelstan had escorted me to a big building and it was open on one side, spotting Ragnar sitting cross-legged with folded hands. He was staring up at an empty bedroom and furrowing my eyebrows it became clear to me. 

"Every nine years, we travel at the temple at Uppsala to give thanks to the gods and to offer them sacrifices for all they do for.... for protecting us, for the succes in battle, for the rains that they bring that grow our crops and, of course, for our children. This year I was not going to go, for there is too much to do around here. Then my unborn son was cruelly taken from me...." 

Ragnar clenched his jaw and closed his eyes to suppress tears while I had dropped myself down next to him. 

"And it made me wonder what I had done to anger the gods. What do Christians do about such pain?" 

"In the Bible, it says that all sorrows will pass." Ragnar just stared at the Christian and laughed a bit, not believing a word he said. 

"In any case, I've decided to go. I'm going to take the children for the first time, for it's important that they go. What about you?"

"Me? What about me?" A questioning look was seen onto the Priest's face and Ragnar just chuckled. 

"Will you come with us? Or perhaps you would prefer to stay here and worship your own god?" 

"No, I'll gladly come with you." 

"Good." He slowly bend over a bit to Athelstan. "I would have taken you anyway." Athelstan had stood up, leaving the building while nodding to the both of us. 

"What about you?" 

"Me, I definitely come. It has been 13 years since I ended up in that snowstorm. I missed one and therefore I would be happy to go now."

~~~ 

"Arne!" I offered my hand as the man hesitated to grab it, though soon he noticed he almost fell and in panic he took my hand with me helping him up. Not liking I helped him, he thanked me. 

"Gyda, step up." I hear Bjorn tell Gyda while they climbed up as well. It was a good time to learn about everyone while walking to the temple. I met Ragnar's children and wife and to my surprise Rollo was married or about to marry too, I couldn't really tell by the way he told me about Siggy, but it wasn't my concerns whether he was really in love or not. Beside that, I made some new and old friends, tried to get some new bounds with people who clearly hadn't liked my chaos back then and caught up talking with who had missed me. I never thought anybody could miss me, but clearly the two brothers and friends had sought the whole area after the story had spread.


	4. Back To The Gods

Beside that, I made some new and old friends, tried to get some new bounds with people who clearly hadn't liked my chaos back then and caught up talking with who had missed me. I never thought anybody could miss me, but clearly the two brothers and friends had sought the whole area after the story had spread.

~~~

"Uppsala!" 

We all stood, while breathing heavily, on top of the mountain we were climbing and watched the beautiful temple standing on a cliff in the middle of all the bigger mountains. It was a legendary sight, all the different bird species flying around the green and yellow treetops and the way the white water dripped of the rocks, together forming an waterfall. Within a hour we were on steady ground again and had almost arrived at the temple itself. Stepping foot between the tents, I heard bells being moved so they would make sounds and I understood we had happened to be finally there, in Uppsala. 

"Does he know?"

"No." 

With strong steps I couldn't wait to get inside and meet the statue of the gods again. It had been so long ago I had been here for the last time, though, I also remembered it had always given me a wrong feeling, like something was pulling me back. With bravery I walked in, not caring about the wrong feeling and relaxed I stared at all the shown gods. 

"Hail to the Aesir and the Vanir. Hail to the gods and goddesses. Hail to Odin, Thor and Freyr. Hail to Vali, Sif and Heimdall. Hail to Balder, Bragi and Eir. Hail to Freya, Loki and Frigg..." Blood was spotted onto my face as it had been my turn. I had always been the one sitting onto the spot with hail Freya, Loki and Frigg, no matter in what order I had been kneeling down into... and that always made me wonder why? "Hail to Hlin and Mimir. Hail to Njord, Ran and Tyr. Hail to Odin's spear, Thor's hammer. Hail to the mighty fecund earth. All-... all hail." 

"All hail!!" 

Nodding and raising to my feet, I turned around so I could follow Ragnar, Bjorn and Athelstan. 

"You know who that is, don't you?" 

"Of course. This is Thor holding his hammer, Mjollnir. Who hasn't heard him beating his anvil in the storm? Who doesn't believe in mighty Thor, slayer of frost and fire?" I thought to myself he was acting way too exaggerated which made me chuckle a bit to the man ahead of me. Walking around we ended up at Odin where Bjorn first went worshipping him, then the sad Ragnar.

"Lord of lords, father, hear my prayer. Let me understand your will. Is it true that I shall have more sons like the Seer says? Accept the sacrifice I plan to offer you, and then answer me. Who will bear me my son?" After a moment of silence, pushing himself off of the statue, Ragnar silently made his way to me. 

"Who shall you be praying to today?" 

"Loki." Bursting into laughter he shook his head, followed by a slap on my back "Perhaps Hel.... No... to be honest, I shall seriously worship Tyr, Heimdall and Loki."

~~~

Seated next to Floki, I glared up at Ragnar who jumped in front of Bjorn and had let himself fall to his knees next to the young boy. "Can you sense the presence of the gods gathering here? They have left their bright halls to see us." 

"They are here for sure." The blond man called Torstein responded to Ragnar. "They walk among us."

"And make their judgements on us." Grinning to Leif I gave him a shoulder bump, making him shoot out with his task. "And I know which of us is judged the most." Everybody stared at me and I just raised an eyebrow, afterwards smirking to everyone who was still glaring. 

"So when do we offer our sacrifices?" Ragnar's attention was pulled back by his son. 

"At the end of the festival." 

Arne softly smiled at the little man then back at me. He had leaned against the wooden pole, but left his place to sit next to me instead. 

"And in the meantime, we celebrate the gods and enjoy their presence in any way we can." 

"Give Athelstan a drink." I switched my eyes to the one eyed man who had took his seat next to me with his cup filled with mead or beer, I didn't really know what it was. 

"Arne." 

"Njorun." 

"Seems like we just finally became friends." He nodded handing me over his cup to take a sip from it. 

"Never thought we would to be honest." We both cracked up again, probably because of how much we all had drank, but it was good to have another friend in the circle of my companions. I passed his cup to him and he took it from me taking another big sip. He then crawled a bit over the floor before pushing a cup into the hand of the priest, toasting with him before making him drink it. We shifted our spots to the fresh air when it was light and let ourself fall onto the ground, some were laying down, some like me were sitting onto a tree trunk and some where leaning against whatever they could find for support. 

"Come join us priest."

"Drink-... drink to the nights and to the gods." 

"And...uh... eat these." Shaking my head I tried to sign to Rollo it wasn't a good idea, but he completely ignored me. He too had eaten it so it didn't matter anymore. 

"Athelstan, you don't have to eat it." 

However, he wanted to proof himself, which I was afraid of. Raising his arm and opening his hand, he grabbed the content that was laying into the bowl and had put it between his teeth, chewing onto it.


	5. Punishment And Protection

"And...uh... eat these." Shaking my head I tried to sign to Rollo it wasn't a good idea, but he completely ignored me. He too had eaten it so it didn't matter anymore. 

"Athelstan, you don't have to eat it." 

However, he wanted to proof himself, which I was afraid of. Raising his arm and opening his hand, he grabbed the content that was laying into the bowl and had put it between his teeth, chewing onto it.

~~~

Everybody was smiling and giggling at Athelstan as he took a sip from his drink, with the liquid still dripping off of us lip he wiped it off with his sleeve. Shaking my head, I watched the priest blink a lot, trying to get the sight out of his eyes, but as everybody knew, you couldn't, it had to fade. I had done it the last time I was here, but I didn't had the need now. Though, I had drank a lot and wasn't sober, I could think more clear than the rest around me. In the corner of my eye I spotted Rollo kissing Siggy and I turned my head around again, secretly hurt and I suddenly noticed that Athelstan had weirdly disappeared before my eyes. 

~~~

The next morning I woke up, pushing myself off a wide and big tree trunk I had been sleeping on. With a hazy vision I tried to examine my surroundings, only to spot one figure standing by the fences who formed as a cage for the sacrificed animals and while stumbling through the trees, I joined him. 

"Athelstan, Njorun! I want you to meet someone." 

Pushing the fabric opening from the set-up tent aside, we made our way inside and my ability to walk properly had returned with luck. 

"You must be Ragnar Lothbrok." 

The loud man embraced Ragnar and couldn't hide a big smile. 

"I must tell you it is my privilege and pleasure to clap eyes on you. Your reputation goes ahead of you, Ragnar Lothbrok. I know this because so many have told me how you killed Earl Haraldson, and then built a new kind of ship, were the first to sail west, and defeated a king of England. In fact I can hardly believe my eyes that you are standing right here in front of me. Please, please." The amused man, who seemed king Harold as Floki just told me, had signed to us that we could sit down before him. 

"Travelers and storytellers have described how you came to your throne by defeating, one by one, the six uncles that killed your father-..." 

"And my mother, and all my sisters and brothers." 

Rolling my eyes, I could already feel what this conversation was going to end up in. Bragging about how they became big and what had happened in their pasts, like every other normal powerful man. Sitting myself too, I stared at Athelstan who had took a seat next to me. 

"So, everything went well yesterday?"

"What... oh.... um yeah. I don't remember everything in detail, but I can almost confirm I wasn't killed." 

A small smile was painted on his face when the two men before us started to speak again. 

"I also know how you favor the poets at your court, and your people respect your law making, your justice and your rule. And as a consequence, here, on this site, in the living presence of the gods, I offer you my fealty and my service." 

"I accept your pledge with a glad heart. What can I do for you in return?" 

"Hmm. You could join forces with me. I am not satisfied with what I have achieved so far. I want to send in bigger raiding parties to the west. Yes, to plunder, but also to explore new lands." 

"There are other lands to the west?" The king's eyes sparkled by the big news he had heard. 

"There is a kingdom called Francia. A kingdom far larger, far richer, and far more powerful than England. Athelstan come. Come." Athelstan slowly rose to his feet, nervous about what would happen. "This man had seen it." 

"I was a Christian monk in England. I traveled as a missionary." 

"I have heard of Christians and of their god. And are you still a... Christian." 

"No." Athelstan confirmed the king.

"Of course not! How could you be a Christian and walk among our gods? I share your appetite for new adventures, Ragnar Lothbrok, and I will gladly join forces with you, since, as king, I am naturally not in favor of individual enterprise by my earls or anyone else. But believe me I will be happy enough just to have my name linked with yours when the poets tell the story of how we Norsemen sailed west and discovered new worlds." They embraced for a second time and I just shook my head, it was all so overreacting. "Please, come. Eat, eat." 

~~~ 

"I have come to tell you that the sacrifice of this man will not please the gods. He is neither willing nor is his faith acceptable to Odin. His heart is corrupt. He has not renounced his false god." Seer continued. "Instead, one amongst you must agree to take his place tomorrow at the sacrifice. If not, then all shall fail. The gods, in their anger, will punish everyone... and withdraw their protection from all of us." 

'I think they already did that for me." I spoke up in a harsh tone so only Rollo and Ragnar could hear me and the next thing I felt was a elbow in my rib. 

"Sshhh." 

"See!" I silently growled at Ragnar. "Maybe I should go, only I don't think they want me." I chuckled when the pain faded. 

"No, not yoo, Njorun." To my surprise both Rollo and Ragnar yelled at me at the same time, truly not willing to let me go. Maybe because they finally got me back. Backing off a bit, I could hear everyone whisper and murmur about who would do it when suddenly Arne tried to raise his hand, only to also be cut off by Leif, another friend.

"Before anyone else can claim this honor, I desire to be sacrificed. For the sake of my family, for the sake of all of you, my friends. But even more, for the sake of all humans in Midgard. I trust that the gods will find my sacrifice acceptable. In which case, I look forward to it joyfully." Leif nodded at the Seer as the Seer returned the nod to him.


	6. The Important Sacrifice

"No, not yoo, Njorun." To my surprise both Rollo and Ragnar yelled at me at the same time, truly not willing to let me go. Maybe because they finally got me back. Backing off a bit, I could hear everyone whisper and murmur about who would do it when suddenly Arne tried to raise his hand, only to also be cut off by Leif, another friend.

"Before anyone else can claim this honor, I desire to be sacrificed. For the sake of my family, for the sake of all of you, my friends. But even more, for the sake of all humans in Midgard. I trust that the gods will find my sacrifice acceptable. In which case, I look forward to it joyfully." Leif nodded at the Seer as the Seer returned the nod to him.

~~~

Standing next to Lagertha and Rollo, I watched the priests showing us the sacrifice blades and in the corner of my eye I could see Ragnar kissing his daughter's forehead who watched the offer with nerves. Further in the back the people and animals who had to be sacrificed were cleaned for the ritual as I stared up at Siggy and Rollo. They wouldn't be together for long, she didn't knew Rollo that well. He would fuck other girls without her knowing the second he had the change and honestly I think that had already happened. Though, I also think Siggy isn't that dumb and she had already noticed. 

The moment the weapons were laid out on the table, a new chosen woman, last time I was here it was an other woman, sang in our native language. To the left of us all a young man walked in with a young little brown goat in his arms. It was laid on the table and bleated one more time before he was slowly slaughtered with the chosen blade. The little dead goat was lifted again and in the forest they would be hanged with their head towards the ground. Everything went so fast as I spotted a man walking up, he was unknown to me, yet familiar, I had probably seen him around the feast yesterday. 

This time King Horik had the honor to kill the man as he laid relaxing onto the table. I took a step back towards Athelstan and smiled. "Do not worry, I know the sight isn't very pleasing... but they want to be sacrificed. Think about that." 

Athelstan nodded before swallowing and he switched his attention to the offers again. The unknown yet familiar man had left Midgard and went towards the bright halls while a few more men were slaughtered. And there we saw him, Leif, our good friend. Closing my eyes, I suppressed my emotions and watched again, feeling a hand from Rollo on my shoulder. 

"He wants it." 

"I know, but couldn't they.. like.... choice someone else at the time or do it quickly?" Rollo shook his head, but also didn't find the thought of him leaving this place a very pleasant thought. 

"Let's just hope he ends up feasting with Odin." 

Leif stopped for a moment, locking gazes with us one by one and nodded. After, he stepped up the small stairs and laid down onto the already bloody table. King Horik didn't hesitate and quickly slid his throat with the chosen blade, seeing my friends blood dripping into the bowel. Athelstan his eyes had became bloodshot as did Ragnar's and as did probably mine too. Taking in a deep breath, he was lifted of off the table like the rest and was hanged somewhere in the forest with his head towards the ground. Together, we just stood there silently.

~~~

"Why don't they let us dry ourselves and get warm? If I stay like this, I will rust." Floki shivered. 

"What kind of fellow is this Jarl Borg?" I nodded in agreement towards Rollo and pointed at him. 

"Right! This is no way to treat guests, whoever they are." 

"Especially if they've been traveling for days on end." Ragnar stated as I stared with my cold eyes towards the moron of a Jarl. Then suddenly he signed with his fingers to come to him and annoyed I shook my head before joining Ragnar and Rollo with walking. Patting Bjorn on his back we made our way to the fire and kneeled down before it to warm ourselves. 

"Are you the emissaries from King Horik? Well, I can tell you at once, you're wasting your time. It's my land, and I want it returned to me. That's all I have to say." The Jarl took a sip from his drink as I almost had thrown myself into the fire because of the amusing warmth that came from it. 

"He wants to make peace with you and come to some kind of agreement." 

"Then tell him if he leaves my land, we can have peace. But not before." Ragnar just smiled while warming his fingers. 

"How can you make peace, Jarl Borg, if you insist on humiliating him?" 

"If I invade and defeat him, will he not be even more humiliated?" The Jarl confirmed, really thinking he was way stronger. 

"Not if he fights well. In any case, I am sure that he would relish a fight." Ragnar calmly spoke while the Jarl seemed annoyed and tapped three times with his cup onto the table before he rose to his feet, coming our way. Ragnar did the same and I stood beside Rollo, my pierce eyes still on the asshole. 

"What's your name?" 

"Ragnar Lothbrok."

"You are Ragnar Lothbrok, the one who sailed west?" Men were really good in bragging about themselves and laying on their knees for the other if they had a bigger name than theirs. I most of the time got nauseous just seeing it happen again. 

"I am surprised that you've heard about that." 

"How are you surprised?" The Jarl laughed at the man with the bright blue eyes, meanwhile, I noticed the jealousy in Rollo's eyes. "Everyone has heard of your exploits. Why have we not offered our guests dry clothes and food? Treat these folk well. Give them ale, let them dry out, feed them. Tomorrow, you and I will talk again, Ragnar Lothbrok."


	7. The New ‘Allie’

"I am surprised that you've heard about that." 

"How are you surprised?" The Jarl laughed at the man with the bright blue eyes, meanwhile, I noticed the jealousy in Rollo's eyes. "Everyone has heard of your exploits. Why have we not offered our guests dry clothes and food? Treat these folk well. Give them ale, let them dry out, feed them. Tomorrow, you and I will talk again, Ragnar Lothbrok."

~~~

The guards had escorted us to our chambers were we could change clothing and sleep and had explained where to eat. Smiling to Bjorn and rubbing his head to mess up his hair, I disappeared behind my room's door after also saying goodbye to the rest who had been walking among the hallways. The room wasn't as awful as I thought it would be and I plopped down onto a chair which was decorated by deer fur to make it softer to sit on. Also I spotted an wooden table with beautiful carved symbols in it and the big, soft, decorated fur bed had caught my eye the most. 

I kicked off my boots before making my way onto the soft bed. Only, fast It became way to comfortable for me because I almost fell asleep, so I quickly shook my head before getting off of the bed again. I still had to heal and rake rest, but I couldn't miss dinner with the rest either. Grabbing some clothing out of the symbol-carved closet, I quickly noticed the clothes fitted me right and I headed out of my room towards the feast hall. I was happy my dress covered all my skin, I didn't like people seeing the countless scars. Seeing Rollo, Ragnar and Jarl Borg, already eating I joined them, taking a seat beside them.

"I take it, from what you said yesterday, that king Horik is prepared to compromise and offer some deal regarding those lands of mine, which he still occupies?"

"He is prepared to pay you to renounce your illegal claims of his lands." 

"You disappoint me now, Ragnar Lothbrok. I thought you'd come here with a serious purpose. If you would just name your price-..." 

"The land is priceless." The Jarl had cut off the blue eyed brother beside me and I just laughed, shaking my head while I grabbed a piece of bread. "Which is why King Horik wants to keep it for himself." 

"Every piece of land has a price, just like every human." Rollo smartly announced while biting of a piece of meat. 

"Well, you don't understand. This is not a small plot of land on which you grow and onions. We're talking about a vast swathe of land, and on this land, in the earth, are minerals, things of great value. Why else would I assert my claim?" He opened his hands, shrugging at us before standing behind two other men. 

"Because you're selfish?" I smiled sweetly at the Jarl before raising my eyebrows at him playfully. In the corner of my eyes I could see both Rollo on my right and Ragnar on my left, shaking their heads, though they both seemed to enjoy it as well. 

"King Horik resists your claim, but still, in good faith, he is willing to settle with you. If you will name a reasonable price." 

"At the moment, my price is king Horik's head." The three of us bursted into laughter into the face of the 'oh I'm so holy' Jarl and rage was possible seeing in his eyes, but I couldn't care less, we all couldn't care less about his emotions. 

"Well, then, it seems I am done. Hold on, please, sit down, sit down. Let's see if we can find another way."

"What do you have in mind?" 

"What if my claim was acknowledged, but I was willing to lease the land back to the King during his lifetime? Or what if we deferred judgement on ownership, but shared the mineral rights? What do you say?" He desperately spoke up, doing everything to get a piece of that fucking land and Ragnar just nodded before the Jarl spoke up again. "Can we start negotiating in this manner?" 

Borg's eyes met mine and I, in annoyance, nodded before Rollo laid his food down and patted Ragnar on his shoulder, leaning onto me. "Why not?" 

"I have not been given the authority to negotiate in this manner." 

"You mean King Horik sent you here with nothing but a demand? And yet he speaks of peace!" Rollo retreated his arm from his brother and placed it around my shoulders, making me narrow my eyes. 

"I don't know what is in his mind." 

"Well, then, maybe you should ask him. Let me make a suggestion. Why don't you send one of your men back so he can put to King Horik my ideas for a remedy?" 

"If you think that will work." Ragnar stated while taking another bite. 

"Good. Your messenger will take several days. So in the meantime, why don't you and your men go and visit our famous ash tree? It is famous not only for its size, but because if never loses its leaves, summer or winter. Some people even say it's Yggdrasil, the tree that holds up the sky. And I will provide you an escort. I only have one very small request. I would like one of your men, or woman, to stay behind here as a kind of security. You understand, I hope?" 

"My brother Rollo will stay behind." Ragnar confirmed and quickly stood up, leaving before Rollo even had the change to go against his respond.


	8. My Hatred And His Love

"Good. Your messenger will take several days. So in the meantime, why don't you and your men go and visit our famous ash tree? It is famous not only for its size, but because if never loses its leaves, summer or winter. Some people even say it's Yggdrasil, the tree that holds up the sky. And I will provide you an escort. I only have one very small request. I would like one of your men, or woman, to stay behind here as a kind of security. You understand, I hope?" 

"My brother Rollo will stay behind." Ragnar confirmed and quickly stood up, leaving before Rollo even had the change to go against his respond.

~~~

For Rollo I had decided to stay as well, giving him a little company as his other friends left to the so called famous ash tree, Yggdrasil. Finding myself into the hallways of the building, I suddenly heard Jarl Borg speak up and it made me stop to listen. 

"So, Rollo, how do you get on with your brother?" The curious asshole asked and I knew which path the conversation let to. 

"We get along fine. Why shouldn't we?" 

"No reason. But not all brothers get on so well. I know that from personal experience." I rolled my eyes and tried to find a hole or a crack in the door to see what was happening, only to see Rollo sitting down with the Jarl throwing some sticks into the fire. 

"What do you mean?" Rollo had asked while looking up. 

"I, too, had a brother. I loved him. We were very close, as befits blood brothers. We fought together in the shield-wall. We shared the same women." In disgust I shook my head, I never had understood why you would want to share your woman with your brother, but it was their business either way. Jarl Borg had sat down on the opposite side of Rollo and leaned onto the wooden table they had taken a seat on with Rollo listening closely and carefully. 

"When my father was killed, there was fierce competition to replace him as Jarl. And although I was his eldest son, I was not sure I was going to succeed. However, I was elected at the thing. We had a feast to celebrate. My wife was there. My young, beautiful wife. We'd just gotten married. And all the others who had stood for the election against me. My brother poisoned them all. I only survived because my wife took the cup I was about to drink from and drained it herself in celebration. I will never forget her screams. It's my wife's screams that will haunt me for the rest of my life. My brother denied responsibility, but his guilt was to obvious-..." 

I somehow felt bad for the Jarl and silently sighed before switching my gaze back through the hole to spot the two men. I could see Rollo raising an eyebrow while his face turned into a confused expression when the silence was broken again. 

"So I blinded him with my own hands, and then I burned him alive. Although he laughed while he was burning. That's what I know about the love between brothers." The man stated as Rollo shook his head in denial. 

"Ragnar would never do such a thing."

"Of course not. No, your brother is different. Your brother's a great man, a great warrior." I silently started to hate the man who spoke like that against Rollo, I had already noticed what kind of game he was about to play and I found it rather concerned that Rollo hadn't noticed it himself yet. His jealousy had always taken a big role in his decisions and it seemed like Jarl Borg had find that out too. 

"As am I." Rollo growled at the blond haired man. 

"I'm sure you are. And yet I've never heard of you." The Jarl stormed off to another group waiting for him and I could see Rollo seeking a way to leave. He had found the door I was watching from behind and I quickly backed off, acting like I was just passing. 

"I knew you heard everything." A rough voice followed me from behind. 

"Don't let him get to you, Rollo."

"Easy to say. You don't have any family to deal with." I quickly turned around ready to attack him when he outran my punch by grabbing my fist. 

"Never say that again." I hissed through my teeth and I spotted regret in Rollo's eyes which were not that long ago filled with jealousy and rage. 

"I'm sorry. I knew what you had been through with your father. That's why we had came those years ago." I never had the full explanation why they had invaded my home to kill my father. I had no idea how they caught the information my father abused me badly, nobody knew. Besides I had never been outside before their attempt to rescue me. Either way I had been grateful for it and never dared to ask why and when I was ready to, I was taken by the storm. But now, in this moment, I lost my tongue again, still not wanting to know why they had saved me from him or how they found out about the situation I lived in at home in that moment. 

"How..." was all I managed to roll off my tongue when Rollo his arms wrapped around me and pushed me against a hard wall in a side hallway. 

"I had heard you scream... a young girl, begging to stop hurting her. It had haunt me the same way Jarl was haunted by his wife's. I had stormed in-..."

"Ragnar followed and you killed my father." I silently whispered as I stared up at Rollo while continuing the story we both had taken a part in that day. I could see his eyes glancing down at my lips as I had spoken up at him and knew what to expect. If I wanted it... that was another question....


	9. His Side Or My Own | Part 1

"I had heard you scream... a young girl, begging to stop hurting her. It had haunt me the same way Jarl was haunted by his wife's. I had stormed in-..."

"Ragnar followed and you killed my father." I silently whispered as I stared up at Rollo while continuing the story we both had taken a part in that day. I could see his eyes glancing down at my lips as I had spoken up at him and knew what to expect. If I wanted it... that was another question....

~~~

I softly laid my fingers on his jaw, shaking my head as his eyes examined me from head to toe, confused of my respond. 

"Rollo... I... we..." I sighed, trying to not stumble over my words. "This can't happen. You're married." 

"You want it, same as me." 

"It's just.. I won't let you hurt Siggy. I'm sorry." I lowered my head before pushing myself past him, hoping that I would forget what had happened this evening. It tore me apart to not be with him, but he was married to a friend. I couldn't help him cheat on her, I was not like that. I roamed through the hallways like I did before all this and quickly opened the door to my chamber, closing it behind me after. I leaned myself against it and slowly made myself slide down the door into a sitting position. With my face in my hands, I, for the second time, told myself it was the right thing that I did for Siggy and Rollo. But deep down the pain started to hurt even more.

The following few days I tried to ignore him because every time I saw him it felt like my heart was stabbed over and over again. The first time I heard the news he was married it had hurt, but I could suppress it by telling myself he deserved it, it made him happy and I was finally okay with it. But the moment he and I ended up alone and he had told me he wanted me instead of her, I... I couldn't handle it. He had thrown my desires all over the place and I couldn't gather them anymore. I would have given him what he wanted if he wasn't bounded to someone else, but he was and I wasn't such a toxic person to destroy their marriage so I locked myself up away from him. 

Only, I had to eat. I had skipped dinner for three days and my recovery was even more delayed by it so today I made the decision to show up tonight. Walking nervously through the dark hall I opened the heavy doors to the dining room, nodding at the Jarl before taking a seat next to Rollo. 

"I trust all is to your satisfaction."

"You feed me." Quickly Rollo had corrected himself when he noticed me sitting down next to him. "Us... very well." 

"You're an important guest. Same as the woman next to you." He pointed at me as I stared at my food, still not hungry. "We would like to keep you two entertained until your brother returns."

“You always talk about my brother.” Borg sat down, taking off his fur coat. 

“What choice do I have? He is your earl. Which one would you like tonight?” Jarl looked over his shoulder to the two women and I scoffed in disgust. “Why don’t you take both of them?” 

“I don’t need to be bribed with women.” Rollo took a sip and Jarl straightened his back, confused of what he had heard. 

“What is it you want, Rollo?” The Jarl had caught his attention and Rollo had put down his glass, glaring at me up and down and I knew exactly what he meant. “What is it you really want?” 

The Jarl had again repeated his question with an curious tone in his voice, but had already understood the sign of Rollo watching me. I awkwardly tried to hide myself a little bit more in my fur and quickly started to pay attention to my food, feeling a bit weird being under the gaze of two men. Normally it wouldn’t be that big of a problem I had a lot of male friends, but I knew how these men meant it and I didn’t feel comfortable with it. Jarl Borg seemed to enjoy my embarrassment, but Rollo had soon stopped and instead smiled at me before patting me on the shoulder. “I’m sorry... I’m happy you came to eat. I was worried you would starve to death.” 

“I wouldn’t, you know that I wouldn’t.” I chuckled, feeling a little bit normal again. 

~~~

The time between that dinner and the arrival of Ragnar was quite enjoyable. Rollo and I returned to who we were before, well, I explained it a little bit more why I turned him down that evening and why I had ignored him and it made him more friendly and less sexually towards me which I appreciated a lot. Though, we did become closer than before and had experienced some fun moments together. People were chattering as Rollo and I shared our food and Ragnar had met another woman which made me think about the things they had experienced. 

“We welcome our guests to this feast. Now tell us what you learned from King Horik. What compromises is he willing to make?” 

“Can I not eat first.” Floki stated and I laughed as Rollo almost chocked on his beer. He then watched Jarl and shrugged very lightly. “Well, he said....” 

“What did he say?” Suddenly Rollo and Ragnar watched each other hateful and I narrowed my eyes while furrowing my eyebrows. “What did he say?” 

“He will make no compromises, no deals. He say you must name your price for the land.”

“Or?” Borg asked in annoyance. 

“He didn’t say ‘or’...


	10. His Side Or My Own | Part 2

"What did he say?" Suddenly Rollo and Ragnar watched each other hateful and I narrowed my eyes while furrowing my eyebrows. "What did he say?" 

"He will make no compromises, no deals. He say you must name your price for the land."

"Or?" Borg asked in annoyance. 

"He didn't say 'or'...

~~~

Floki secretly felt a little awkward and watched the Jarl like he was stupid, meanwhile, slowly, reaching out to grab a piece of bread. 

"It seems your mission has been entirely wasted, Ragnar Lothbrok. You and your men must leave here in the morning. Unless you want to repudiate King Horik, renounce your allegiance to him?" Ragnar still hadn't left his brother out of sight and leaned on his folded hands while staring at him. Afterwards, finally switching his eyes to the woman across the table. "I see. Very well."

Borg rose to his feet, pushing his chair back with his leg before taking his leaving. 

"Good. War." Floki added and finished his food while the two brothers again, surveyed each other with Rollo being the one to look away towards me while I shrugged at him with concern. 

~~~

I had agreed with joining Ragnar to leave in the morning and so we did. I wasn't given the time to say goodbye to Rollo who seemed to have stayed and the action fed my concern and confusion as we had took off with our horses. It grew even bigger when we prepared for the upcoming war between King Horik and Jarl Borg and Rollo hadn't followed us, but was wandering somewhere else instead. A few days had past and here we were my side between the two mountains and his side on the hill before us. Did Rollo regret the decision? Would he change his mind before we had to enter this carnage? Why did he betray us? Questions filled my mind as our warriors watched Borg's warrior and the other way around. 

I could, even from this far away, feel the gaze of Rollo on me and I switched my attention to Ragnar who seemed sad about the war and the fight he had to begin against his brother which I understood. While setting up our camp quickly, Arne and I had been given the task to talk to Jarl Borg and Rollo to maybe change their minds so this brother war would come to an end, even though I didn't have that much faith in the solution we came up with. Jumping on my black horse which matched with my black hair, I followed Arne onto the enemies territory and after a short time, we spotted Rollo and Borg making themselves ready, theirs bare chests visible to us. 

"RIDERS APPROACHING!!" I could hear a guard scream from the top of his lungs and I nodded at Arne to keep going. 

"What is it you want?" 

"I'm here on behalf of Ragnar Lothbrok." Rollo regretfully stared into my eyes and it felt like he could change his mind in a second just to not have to fight me and hurt me while meanwhile Arne continued. "I want to speak to his brother." 

"Then speak." 

"Rollo! You and I fought together many times. I don't suppose you've forgotten. I think of you as a brother. But over there is your real brother, your own flesh and blood. Are you sure you want to raise your ax against him?"

"Did Ragnar send you?" He questioned Arne while watching him in disbelief and rage was possible seeing in his eyes too as Arne lowered his head, signing we came on our own and Rollo turned his back to us. 

"What answer shall I give him?" Arne again tried to pull him back to our side. 

"Tell him I shall answer him with blood." The horse of Arne had already turned around and left off back to Ragnar while I refused to go. Sliding off of my horse, I pulled him with me towards Rollo who was choosing his weapon, not even noticing I was still there and the Jarl followed my movements carefully like I was his prey. 

"Rollo?" He immediately turned around and watched me with the desperate look he gave me before when I arrived in their camp with Arne a short time ago. I had took a step closer to him and closed the gap between him and I, but he hadn't done anything to pull me closer or push me away, he just stood there, glaring at me with an emotionless face expression. "Don't tell me this is you... Don't tell me you want me or your brother dead by your ax. I know it isn't fair, but please, you will have more, you don't need to be like your brother."

"I won't have you." He glanced at me up and down and clenched his jaw. "I have to do this... so you better not be in that bloodbath because I won't hold back. Now leave!" A tear ran down my cheek as I pressed my lips together and pushed myself out of his personal space, climbing onto my horse, I kicked with my heels into my horses rib cage and off I went, away from the man who I had such a good bond with and I secretly loved while being forced to keep my distance from him because of his marriage with Siggy. Arriving back at my camp, silently crying, I acted like nothing was wrong with me and nodded at Ragnar to confirm the news Arne probably had given him when I was back at Jarl Borg's army. It was War.


	11. Insomnia

A tear ran down my cheek as I pressed my lips together and pushed myself out of his personal space, climbing onto my horse, I kicked with my heels into my horses rib cage and off I went, away from the man who I had such a good bond with and I secretly loved while being forced to keep my distance from him because of his marriage with Siggy. Arriving back at my camp, silently crying, I acted like nothing was wrong with me and nodded at Ragnar to confirm the news Arne probably had given him when I was back at Jarl Borg's army. It was War.

~~~

Both warriors standing on opposite sides watched each other how a eagle would watch a mouse. With narrowed eyes and full attention for their prey. I was determined to kill every last one of them assholes, I loved chaos and the evilness war was build on, well, I thought I did until I surveyed Rollo walking to the front with Jarl Borg. My rage couldn't be hidden, but neither could my disappointment and my sadness. Swallowing away my worries and weaknesses, I again took on my positions and inhaled deeply. 

"SHIELD-WALL!!" Ragnar screamed from the top off his lungs and the rest of our group followed as they positioned themselves into the shield-wall. The opposite side did the same and Ragnar once again yelled to lead us. "SPEARS!!" 

A long silence followed, brothers staring into one another's eyes. "CHARGE!!" Running the same speed as the rest, I quickly and smoothly ran over the dusty floor. I hadn't healed, I didn't even come close to it, but I couldn't back away from this carnage because I wanted it from the beginning and I will fight for it to win even if it meant my death. Pushing a first man onto the ground out of the shield-wall I ripped open his stomach with my ax as he tried to stop me, screaming out loud... and there he was, Rollo, standing right ahead me, gaze meeting gaze, heartbeat matching heartbeat. Raising my ax, he outrun my swing and brought me to my knees. 

He knew exactly where my deepest cuts were located on my body, he had saw them the day he had helped me from the Christians, but know it seemed like he was taken advantage of them to get me where he wanted me to be. "I told you to stay out of this!" He screamed at me before lifting up his ax and I rolled over to also bring him to the ground. 

"Never!!" I hit him in his throat when he fell on his back, making it harder for him to breath and he took a hold of his throat while another person launched himself at Rollo, pushing me to the side when I tried to stand up again. It seemed like Rollo payed attention to the man who had attacked him after I did and I got away successfully, save behind the shield-wall with Ragnar and Horik. The moment I managed to regain my strength, I noticed it was Floki who had jumped in front of Rollo to help me flee. Floki was kicked to the ground and was lucky to be able to find a shield behind him to protect himself while Rollo swung his weapon at Floki's shield. 

I wanted to help, but knew I had to stay behind with Ragnar to kill the men who were brave enough to attack us from the back. I could see someone got to Floki's rescue and together they attacked Rollo who's ax broke in half. The two of them pushed each other through the wall until suddenly Floki, Rollo and Jarl Borg ended up together. Running towards the Shield-wall to help him, I was pulled back and met Ragnar's gaze while surveying his hand that was around my wrist. "Don't!" Was the only word that was thrown my way before I could hear battlecries coming from the other side where Floki would be. 

Not being able to hold my focus on the battle, but on Floki's life, relieve washed over me as I noticed that Torstein, Ragnar and Horik dragged Floki away from the moment while Arne took his role in the battle. "NJORUN, HELP FLOKI!!!" Ragnar yelled after me and I nodded as I was handed over the highly wounded Floki. Taking care of Floki as much as I could, I could spot a glimpse of someone in the air and when I turned myself around I placed my bloody hands before my mouth, not being able to believe it. My friend... Arne... screaming while coughing blood, a spear through his chest, lifted into the air by it. 

Rollo, the murderer of my friend, threw him to the side and that was the moment Ragnar stepped in front of his brother, immediately the whole crowd became silent when Rollo wasn't able to kill his blood brother and hesitated in surrendering to him. Surrounded by us and Jarl Borg's warriors he fell to his knees before throwing his weapon on the ground, just like he did to Arne, my friend. He didn't even have the courage to look up at us as I marched towards the circle too, groaning in pain, the pain he gave me. Psychical and mental. He had hurt me every way possible. My guardian, now my torturer.


	12. I Don’t Need You

Rollo, the murderer of my friend, threw him to the side and that was the moment Ragnar stepped in front of his brother, immediately the whole crowd became silent when Rollo wasn't able to kill his blood brother and hesitated in surrendering to him. Surrounded by us and Jarl Borg's warriors he fell to his knees before throwing his weapon on the ground, just like he did to Arne, my friend. He didn't even have the courage to look up at us as I marched towards the circle too, groaning in pain, the pain he gave me. Psychical and mental. He had hurt me every way possible. My guardian, now my torturer.

~~~

"We have grown weary of the slaughter of our young men. So Jarl Borg, I offer you one third of the profits from the disputed lands. Unless you continue to dispute my claim to it." Horik calmly stated to the murderer of our friends and family and I wasn't exactly hoping this had happened. We all fought because there was no agreement last time and now suddenly he wants to offer it again after starting an unnecessary war.

"I would rather go back fighting, than receive such scant justice." Horik couldn't believe what he had heard and slowly rose to his feet while Ragnar kept his head lowered to the ground. 

"So, you will not accept my fair offer?" Horik unbelievably questioned the blond man.

“No.” Ragnar sighed before slowly standing up as well, walking towards the two stubborn men. 

“Why do we continue looking inwards? WHY?!!” Ragnar’s voice echoed through the valley we were in as his voice grew louder. “WHY DO WE FIGHT EACH OTHER ABOUT THIS PIECE OR THAT PIECE OF LAND? Why are we not looking outwards. I have already found a passage west. We, we have seen rich and arable land over there. And there must be more. We must stop this. If we raided together, we would not need to fight amongst ourselves. We would not need to kill any more of our young folk. But instead, offer them land, land that they can farm.” Ragnar stated strongly and I smiled slightly. 

“My mind tends the same way as Ragnar’s. It is my intention to join with him and sail west. What do you say, Jarl Borg?” 

“Yes, I will raid with you, and so I accept your offer.” 

The man hugged each other the way we made pacts and finally Rollo was brave enough to look up and face his brother as Ragnar approached him. “Not that you’d care, brother, but your niece, Gyda, is dead. Time to go home.” Ragnar spit the words out like it was poison and Rollo’s eyes secretly bottled up with tears as I myself became sad over the fact Gyda, Ragnar’s sweet daughter, had passed away as well. 

~~~

“HE IS WITHOUT HONOR!!” A man shouted while the crowd was clamoring. I had seated myself onto one of the smooth, big rocks and closed my eyes to take a deep breath as I spotted Rollo being dragged onto the hill of judgement. Bjorn seemed to care a lot, as did I, but Rollo had, like everybody said, betrayed us. He tried to lock gazes with me, but I glared away, jerking my head back to the Law Giver. 

“People, as your Law Giver I have been asked to determine the fate of this man. This man chose to fight with our enemies, chose to fight against his brother.” A man, again, interrupted the wise one, but the Law Giver continued, not minding him being interrupted. “He killed many of our sons, brothers, fathers. What hope is there for him?” Everybody scream at Rollo, yelling he had no defense which was true. “This man deserves to die. We all know that! But, I have decided to spare him. I have taken the advice of the gods. If they had wanted him dead, he would have died in battle. But they spared him.” 

I shook my head, I was relieved, but furious as well about the gods sparing him. Though, perhaps the gods saw the good in him behind the poison, perhaps he was given a second change to do better than he did before. 

“He came forward and threw himself upon the mercy of his brother. He behaved in an interesting and unexpected way, and therefore, I conclude that the gods have made their own judgment, which I cannot overturn. I therefore order this man be set free.” Closing my eyes, I heard the people angrily yelling and shouting, even begging to kill him, but the gods and the Law Giver had spoken to us. 

~~~ 

“Lagertha, Princess Aslaug. Princess Aslaug, Lagertha.” I stood at the left of Ragnar, staring at the woman who had been seated on the opposite side at Jarl Borg’s place while dinning awhile ago. Ragnar seemed to enjoy both women as I knew this would never be excepted by Lagertha, which I could understand. Nobody ever liked to be set aside so easily when another one acts like they are better. 

“I know who it is, Ragnar.” She calmly spoke up while glaring at Aslaug’s stomach before taking a step towards her. “Princess, welcome to Kattegat.”

“Thank you, Lagertha.” 

“This is our son, Bjorn.”

“I know Bjorn. Hello, Bjorn.” Bjorn didn’t seem to like the woman as he watched me while rolling his eyes. Bjorn and I became pretty close the moment at the temple and I had taught him much with a sword before I stayed behind with Rollo and Borg so he didn’t mind to show how he thought about Aslaug. 

“You must have had a tiring journey. Come and eat.” 

“Thank you. You’re very kind. I knew you would be.” We were escorted towards the feast and I was afraid how this triangle would end.


	13. Long Time No See

"I know Bjorn. Hello, Bjorn." Bjorn didn't seem to like the woman as he watched me while rolling his eyes. Bjorn and I became pretty close the moment at the temple and I had taught him much with a sword before I stayed behind with Rollo and Borg so he didn't mind to show how he thought about Aslaug. 

"You must have had a tiring journey. Come and eat." 

"Thank you. You're very kind. I knew you would be." We were escorted towards the feast and I was afraid how this triangle would end.

~~~

It has been 4 years since Princess Aslaug arrived and it didn't seem that delightful for Lagertha and Bjorn. They had left after Ragnar made his choice between the two women and honestly, I had no idea why he choice Princess Aslaug. I always had a liking towards Lagertha more because she was stronger and more friendly, but hell it wasn't my choice to make. In the meantime of Ragnar growing more in love with Alsaug, Rollo rather filled his days with becoming drunk and freezing himself until he was almost dead. I almost felt pity for him, but most of the time I reminded myself that it was his choice to turn his back on his real people, besides, he still had someone that looked after him to keep him alive. 

It was time for Rollo to grow the hell up and create a better life with Siggy, because I felt like he was ignoring her. Walking down the busy streets, even though it was already dark, I noticed the news that Jarl Borg and King Horik had joined us in Kattegat so I immediately walked inside the building they had to be in. Pushing the fabric away from the entrance I could see all my friends dancing and drinking. Laughing to myself, I grabbed a cup from one of the already drunk men and drank from it while dropping myself next to Ragnar. It seemed that maybe Rollo did grow up and had took a seat. 

There was no denial in the fact that there was an big tension between the two brothers and I was planning to break it by giving the blue eyed one a elbow in the rib cage to get his attention. 

"Ahh... Njorun!" He groaned in pain, but a delightful tone was also hearable in his voice when his eyes lit up a bit. "You are late!" 

"Maybe because I didn't know any of this was planned..." I narrowed my eyes and stared right through Ragnar. 

"Ahh, yes... sorry, you seemed busy when I had sent the message so I thought, why not let you do your thing." I furrowed my eyebrows and let my mind trail back to the afternoon, the time I was shooting for fun in the already snowy forest to be exact. "Your bow skills are still impressive by the way." 

"Much obliged." I tried to show some friendliness by and flashed a smile his way, but he quickly turned his head around to deadly stare at King Horik. 

"I have also slain dragons.. just like your father. Unfortunately, like most men, the dragons were only inside my head-..." I hadn't understood much from the conversation, but knew Ragnar became a bit annoyed so he started to talk to one of the King's sons.

"How old are you, Ari?" The young man looked shocked up and swallowed a bit, not believing Ragnar was talking to him. 

"Seventeen. Nearly eighteen." 

"Will this be your first raid?" 

"Yes. I can't wait to prove myself in battle." The son sighed, probably disappointed that he would raid for the first time on this old' age. “I want my father to be proud of me.” 

“I have a son about your age.” Ragnar spoke through his teeth while he narrowed his eyes. 

“Where is he? I would like to meet him.” The young son cut him off and Ragnar rolled his eyes before staring at me. One way or another there would come a day that Ragnar would stop feel guilty for letting Bjorn and Lagertha go, but that time wouldn’t come any time soon if I looked inside his sad eyes. 

“I do not know where he is. That is by his choice. I should never have mentioned him. Drink.” Both men laughed at one another before taking the cup in their hands to take a big sip out of it, but I knew Ragnar was faking it all. The smile, the happiness, the fame. He hated it all. He had loser everything because of it. His daughter, his former wife, his son. Meanwhile I was overthinking everything, I noticed Ragnar and Horik whisper and I managed to listen with them. 

“I have made a decision. I do not wish Jarl Borg to raid with us.” Ragnar couldn’t take his eyes of the king, mad and confused about the decision. 

“But we had an agreement. Why not?” 

“Why do you not want your brother beside you? Because you don’t trust him enough. It is the same for me with Jarl Borg. I cannot bring myself to trust him completely. You must inform him of our decision.” I had dug my nails into my flesh leaving half moon prints in my skin after hearing the betrayer talk and unconsciously I slammed my bleeding hands onto the table which made everybody look up to me before I took my leaving.


	14. I See Red

"But we had an agreement. Why not?" 

"Why do you not want your brother beside you? Because you don't trust him enough. It is the same for me with Jarl Borg. I cannot bring myself to trust him completely. You must inform him of our decision." I had dug my nails into my flesh leaving half moon prints in my skin after hearing the betrayer talk and unconsciously I slammed my bleeding hands onto the table which made everybody look up to me before I took my leaving.

~~~

Roaming through the rain falling from the sky, I noticed that not a lot of people were visible in the streets and the once who did appear on my path weren't in such a good mood same as me at the moment. I didn't understand why I was so angry with the king, but I was and there was no way to calm me down so I, instead of focusing on my anger, tried to find a place to stay warm. It didn't take long before I found a tiny house where the gentle people let me sleep and warm up and I had quickly undressed myself to lay under the warm, fur sheets. The thoughts of what happened today had haunted my mind and I grew tired in a blink of an eye. 

~~~

"Jarl Borg, thank you for waiting." Borg had been waiting at the opposite side of the building I had stormed to when I was mad and noticed Ragnar tried to get his attention from behind. 

"So, when do we set sail?" 

Borg seemed pretty hyped about the trip to England, but I knew he wouldn't be able to feel the same way after the news Ragnar had to tell him. It would hurt him in any trusting way and I didn't like the way we had to remove him from the raid, but it had to happen at the moment. Ragnar stared at the ground and sighed. "Forgive me, Jarl Borg, but we have decided not to seek your help." A long, hurtful silent followed and I bit my lip, curious and afraid of how he would react at Ragnar who was damaging honest. 

"I thought we had an agreement."

"It is not my desire to break that agreement. Believe me, I wish it to remain intact." Borg hadn't even taken the time to say anything else and rushed away from the betrayers while I crossed my arms before my body to follow a group of working men towards the boats. It took a while, but eventually I was at the docks and positioned myself before the boat that I would enter into to follow the crazy Earl Ragnar and King Horik to England and far beyond. Hours we had waited on those boats. Days we had waited on those boats. Nothing had happened in the meantime except for the big storm Thor 'gifted' us and we had lost a lot of men because of it, which angered me. 

Soaking wet and cold, I sat against Ragnar while we shared a fur blanket that, thanks to the gods, was still dry and I silently drifted off to sleep. Well, half asleep, I could still hear everyone, but I wasn't fully awake either. I was 'dreaming/thinking' about England where I had been ended up at after the snow storm and where I was imprisoned. Where they had rescued me, where Rollo had rescued me. I knew it was right across the sea, but I still seemed to believe we would never find it for a second time. Slowly, I opened my eyes at the sound of Ragnar moving from beside me and I curiously stared at Ragnar who seemed to be leaning onto the ropes. I knew he was drowning into his own ideas, he always was when he was staring into the sky ahead of us. 

"We've been blown miles off course, who knows where we are?" Athelstan yelled at the exhausted men and I shook my head in disappointment. 

"The gods know, Priest." Floki shortly followed into the conversation. 

"What I want to know, where are all the ships?" Ragnar paused and I suddenly stopped thinking and looked around me in a rush. They were all gone.... all taken by the wild seas created by Thor's storm. "How many do you see?" Ragnar seemed to question me as I was the one with the sharp sight, probably because of my archery skills. 

"Only four, some of the others may have been scattered by Thor's storm." I spoke up clearly and calm, but also secretly hurt by the fact that we had lost people of our own. 

"Or they all might all have foundered." 

"FATHER! Father! Come see!" One of the two sons of King Horik had shouted at his father and we all grew confused and exited at the same time. Especially when he grabbed his boy and pushed him back and fort with an delightful feeling. 

"What did I tell you, boy? LAND! I TOLD MY SONS RAGNAR ALWAYS FINDS LAND!" Horik waved with his hands and spun around in joy. Happy, I pushed myself up and rushed towards the other side of the boat to position myself next to Ragnar and Floki, spotting the big land between the foggy sky. 

"Where do you suppose we are?" 

"I build boats Ragnar, you're the navigator." In the corner of my eye as I listened to Floki, I could see Athelstan sigh and I somehow felt an weird feeling in my guts. Perhaps this wasn’t the best place to strand.


	15. My Old Prison

"What did I tell you, boy? LAND! I TOLD MY SONS RAGNAR ALWAYS FINDS LAND!" Horik waved with his hands and spun around in joy. Happy, I pushed myself up and rushed towards the other side of the boat to position myself next to Ragnar and Floki, spotting the big land between the foggy sky. 

"Where do you suppose we are?" 

"I build boats Ragnar, you're the navigator." In the corner of my eye as I listened to Floki, I could see Athelstan sigh and I somehow felt an weird feeling in my guts. Perhaps this wasn't the best place to strand.

~~~

All being extra careful, we slowly grabbed our shields and jumped out of the boat only to get our feet wet as we walked towards the steady ground. I felt watched, but didn't seem to care that much while we, as a big group, felt the sand under our boots being pushed away every time as we took a step further onto the landscape. It wasn't warm, nor cold. It was right in between those two temperatures, only, it became warmer when we entered the forest. We walked for a few hours until we found an open space among the trees with a small river and Ragnar pointed out to the place, afterwards letting his hand fall to his side again, meaning we could camp here. 

It was somewhere in the middle of the day as I watched the sun shine through the closed forest and we started to get comfortable at the place. I could see a few woman putting some effort in letting fireplaces burn meanwhile a few men had hunted food for all of us. It wasn't much, but we also had taken supplies from Kattegat to not starve to death so we were not panicking about the failed hunt. I had grew tired because of our journey and didn't had much energie left to waste that on training like the most of us did at the moment. It would only slow us down if we all grew tired and I couldn't understand why they didn't use this time to relax and catch their breaths. 

Ragnar ate an apple while sitting on the side of the small river meanwhile Floki started fishing with an spear. Behind Floki swam a naked man and the rest of our men and women were drinking together while I sat alone on a thick branche of a big tree watching down on them. I had this weird feeling as I stared at Ragnar who waved at me and I shook the thoughts out of my head while I waved back. Well, that was wrong thing to do as I immediately saw an arrow fly through the air hitting Ari, the son of king Horik. "ARI!" His father, king Horik, screamed as he ran towards the harmed boy, clearly being in pain. "ARI!" Ragnar in time dodged a arrow and stood up. 

"SHIELDS! GET DOWN, GET DOWN!" Ragnar yelled and everybody did as they were told to do. I wanted to climb down only to almost get a arrow in my head and I jumped the last part to be quicker on the steady ground beneath me. Running recklessly into danger to make my way to Athelstan and Ragnar, I finally ended up behind the shield wall, safely. Right when we thought we had to attack the unknown figures, we stood still and the arrows had also stopped flying through the air as I stared at Ragnar who was located somewhere in the middle. I pushed myself through the men and women and joined Torstein, Ragnar and Floki in the center. 

"They're everywhere." 

"But how many?" Ragnar questioned Torstein while they surveyed the forest together from behind the shield wall we formed. 

"Erlendur, do not be dismayed. Meet everything head-on. Whether we live or die today is already in the hands of the gods! They already know if we sup with them tonight, so fear not! Fight well, and if you fall, surely Odin will take you to Valhalla! King Horik yelled at us all and I rolled my eyes, surely Odin would have place for us, but I'd rather stay in this life for a bit until it was my time to join him. "ODIN!!!" Everybody shouted among us and Athelstan stared at me, a little bit afraid of the perhaps fatal battle. He had become a great fighter, but not as good as some of us, making him a bit more vulnerable for this battle and he perhaps was self conscious about that. 

I nodded at him to confirm he had all his power beside him and that he will survive this same as us to my surprise he nodded back and screamed at Ragnar. “HORIK IS IN TROUBLE!” 

“WHAT!?!” Ragnar shouted as he slit a man’s throat and raised an eyebrow at his friend. 

“HORIK IS IN TROUBLE!” Athelstan once again tried to yell at Ragnar and he suddenly understood it, confirming it by his axe who he held high to give it to Athelstan and his respond. 

“THEN HELP HIM!” 

I shook my head as his best friend forced him into battlefield alone and I followed to help him and Horik. I could hear Ragnar and Floki scream my name not to follow in the background, but I couldn’t let him handle three men by himself. I couldn’t leave anybody behind... I just couldn’t. I saw Athelstan dodging a few swords by blocking them off with his shield and I stabbed the one attacking him from behind right through his heart, afterwards turning my sword around in it before taking it back. Right when Athelstan grew tired and thanked me I warned him to duck as an arrow almost pierced his body. 

I grabbed his hand to pull him upright and handed him my sword as I grabbed an axe from the ground. “Thank someone after battle, don’t lose your focus.” I meanwhile noticed Ragnar running towards me while out of a sudden Athelstan was nowhere to be seen, he probably had already joined the shield wall again. I was pulled along with Ragnar and he shook his head at me. “Never put yourself in danger like that.”

“No, but putting you best friend in danger is much better?” Ragnar examined his surrounding before lowering his head. 

“You’re right.” He sighed before we together killed off the last few Christians attacking us to retrieve our victory.


	16. When Heaven Falls

I was pulled along with Ragnar and he shook his head at me. "Never put yourself in danger like that."

"No, but putting you best friend in danger is much better?" Ragnar examined his surrounding before lowering his head. 

"You're right." He sighed before we together killed off the last few Christians attacking us to retrieve our victory.

~~~

In the silence and recovery that followed the battle, King Horik and Erlendur tried to tend to the injured Ari, and I knew he was a lost cause. Meanwhile everyone tried to help one another, I leaned against the tree behind Athelstan, seeing Ragnar approaching us and while seeking support on the shoulder of Athelstan he sat down next to the new born Viking. 

"You did not hesitate today." Ragnar praised a quiet Athelstan for not hesitating for killing his former people and I smiled softly when I noticed what Ragnar pulled out of his pocket. "Take it, if you want." 

Ragnar wanted to give him his arm ring, which Athelstan accepted and probably was going to wear proudly. I always had a small feeling Ragnar would gift him the arm ring and I was happy to see it happen before my eyes. It was not long before Ragnar got up with a sigh of pain and helped Athelstan raise to his feet as well, then after offered his hand to me to walk with them. I wasn't sure for what I had to join them, but I had nothing else to do in these beautiful yet gloomy times so I just followed the two men. I wandered through the leaves a bit with my feet and Ragnar suddenly held onto a dismembered head of a soldier when I looked up again then I understood he took us with him to interrogate two of the survivors. 

Athelstan asked them, in a mutual language, where they were from and through the soldiers, we learned that we found ourselves in the middle of a kingdom called Wessex, and that their king was King Ecbert, whose reputation was noticeable known to Athelstan.

"Where are we? This is not Northumbria. You are not King Aelle's men?"

"No. We are not." Athelstan quickly checked Ragnar before swallowing while speaking up in his language that I understood a little after my imprisonment. 

"What is the name of this kingdom?"

"This is Wessex." 

"Wessex?" I was not fully listening as I was mostly focused on the difficult breathing of the man on the ground next to me. One of the English warriors was still weakly alive and I tilted my head to look at him. He was unknown to me, but I turned his body around when I got down on my knees to see him from a good angle. The man couldn't speak, but I knew he was softly begging for him to be killed and slowly and quietly I snapped his neck, making Ragnar slap my back gently when I got back up. It seemed that he had witnessed the scene. 

"Yes." 

"So your king is King Ecbert?" 

"Yes, our king is King Ecbert. Have you heard of him? Have you heard of him?"

"I have heard many things about him."

"Everything you heard is true." It looked like Ragnar had some sort of angry tone to his face, but was also quite curious about this new king of Wessex that made him focus his blue eyes on Athelstan's. 

"What have you heard about King Ecbert?" Athelstan hesitated for a moment and kicked a stone away with his foot as he looked at the ground, but answered anyway as I nodded to just tell the man. I thought it was strange how the warriors spilled everything without any torture or harmful manners, I saw it as being weak, but of course they wanted to save their own life so I could somehow understand why they did it, although I may not believe that Ragnar or King Horik would let the men go. 

"That he's just like you." It was not long before Athelstan led the way through the forest, afterwards we decided what happened with the warriors. We had chosen Athelstan to lead the way because he was of course the one who knew the most about all these kingdoms which I thought was logical and had voted   
for the idea of him helping us while some hated him and were against him because he could might 'set us up'. I knocked away a few branches so they wouldn't get in my face and heard someone behind me screaming in pain from a branch coming into his face and I quickly walked next to Ragnar so that it seemed like I had never walked in front of the man.

"What is that place?" We all looked down on the beautiful large green meadow and the wild life that lived on it, while behind it stood a large surrounded place with a high wall made out of big rocks. Even a greater surrounded place than I had seen in my captivity. Questions quickly began to arise that other people asked Athelstan.

"It's a Christian church, a minster. A large one. It may be Winchester." He explained as Ragnar gazed at the high buildings rising from behind the walls. 

"Is it important?" 

"If it is Winchester, Saint Birinus is buried there. It's a place of great pilgrimage."

"And will there be treasure there?" Horik interfered and I smiled. If it was important then yes it would have many treasures, but he didn't seem to find the link. 

"Yes. A lot of treasure." Athelstan confirmed while chuckling a bit and I nodded at Floki who seemed the most enthusiastic of us all. We were ready to go into battle and wanted to pay tribute to our dead who had fallen to get us where we are now.


	17. Our Bound Faith

"If it is Winchester, Saint Birinus is buried there. It's a place of great pilgrimage."

"And will there be treasure there?" Horik interfered and I smiled. If it was important then yes it would have many treasures, but he didn't seem to find the link. 

"Yes. A lot of treasure." Athelstan confirmed while chuckling a bit and I nodded at Floki who seemed the most enthusiastic of us all. We were ready to go into battle and wanted to pay tribute to our dead who had fallen to get us where we are now.

~~~

The city had been looted, murdered, and destroyed, all before half of our victorious group was torturing a priest in the church for fun. Meanwhile they had fun in the main building, I had to search for the disappeared group of Christians, because many had fled from our sights. I couldn't find them though, except for a few children that I didn't want to expose to death so I had left them alone, and made my way to the last kitchen where Ragnar seemed to be. It wasn't looted yet so perhaps that was the reason he was in there with a small group of other Vikings. He signed to me to join him when he noticed me in the doorway and when I obeyed him, he had opened my hand and pushed something looking like food in it. 

It looked like round bread, with some kind of white powder and I laughed not knowing what he meant. "Try it! Go on!"

Contradictory, I took the food to my mouth and took a bite. Immediately my mouth fell open in shock after I had tasted it and took another bite as I stared at Ragnar. It was delicious and sweet. "We better take all of this with us or else I'm not leaving!" I pointed out at the guys and they all bursted into laughter until Ragnar agreed and actually repeated the sentence, making them take the food with them. I actually never thought about it, but because of the light that fell into Ragnar's eyes as he stared at me they looked like a reflection of Valhalla.... and for one second I swear I could see the gods in them. 

Unfortunately, he quickly looked away and was fascinated by a kind of cooking hole in the wall, which caused him to click it open with his sword and soon let another device divert his interest where he slipped grain through his hand. Why did this man have to be married? He was so sweet and caring... even though he doesn't always look like that. I closed my eyes and lowered my head towards the floor before I got two hands around my upper arms, shaking me back and forth so that I had to open my eyes again to see who it was. Me startled to see that it was Ragnar, he carefully nodding his head to behind him, making me look over his shoulder.

"You see her?" He whispered as he grabbed me in a embrace and I nervously giggled, confused why he embraced me because it wasn't needed, I had already seen the girl. 

"Yes." His arms let go of me as the kitchen slowly emptied with men, favorable for us so that we could cover the girl who had hid herself into a wooden container, probably made to hold water during cooking. We pretended there was nothing in the kitchen and I made the last men taste some of the food while Ragnar pulled a blanket from the wall to cover the red-haired girl under it before sighing. It wasn't long before the men tried to shoot their chance to flirt a bit and I laughed when Ragnar glared at them causing them to quickly walk out the door in shame. 

"Every now and then I wonder why I got married." 

"You still love Aslaug, right? That's why you married her." 

"Yes, but....." Ragnar wanted to say something, but sadly a man called out for Ragnar and he sighed before grabbing my hand to pull me along out of the building. Together we walked in silence until we were left alone by the group of men who needed his help and I immediately spoke up, talking about the hidden kids, not wanting to ruin his marriage. 

"You know that's the umpteenth here." 

"What? Were there more?" Ragnar seemed concerned that the fugitives had left their children, but it was a better response than perhaps being angry with me for not killing them, what normal men would be. 

"Yes, I have already hid more than I can count on my hands." 

"Dear Odin... so what now? Those kids can't hide forever." 

"Well, they have no choice until we leave." 

"True..." The handsome, but lovely man wanted to talk about something important, I knew that, but it would end the same way as me and Rollo had ended up as. He was married, they both were and I didn't want to be such woman that is known for breaking love contracts. Over the time I had grown closer to Ragnar, I had to admit that and I knew something was special between us, like our faith was bounded, but the gods had made the decision between me and Aslaug and I seemed not worthy to live a love life. 

"Why don't we go back to Athelstan?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~~
> 
> I really don’t know what to do with this fic! Of course I will continue it, but as I watched Vikings further I noticed *spoilers——— that Ragnar and Rollo never grow single for a long time and both end up gone (one even dead). I will ask you dear readers if you have a good idea to solve this problem or if there is something you would love to read in this fic to make it more interesting! ♥️


End file.
